Santa Clara County · checked 2026-09-13
Can you BnB it in Palo Alto?
No STR ordinancePalo Alto has no short-term rental ordinance. Renting a home for stays of thirty consecutive days or less is not covered by a permit program, but the renter is a transient under Chapter 2.33 and the fourteen percent transient occupancy tax applies.
The rules, with their sources
Permit or licenseNo permit is required; the code has no short-term rental permit program.L1Palo Alto Municipal Code Chapter 2.33 Transient Occupancy Tax, Ordinance No. 5290, adopted November 4, 2014. No short-term rental chapter exists in Titles 1 to 22. · code text · checked 2026-09-13
Primary residenceThe code does not require the rental to be the operator's primary residence.L1Palo Alto Municipal Code Chapter 2.33 Transient Occupancy Tax, Ordinance No. 5290, adopted November 4, 2014. No short-term rental chapter exists in Titles 1 to 22. · code text · checked 2026-09-13
Transfer when the home sellsCode silent on transfer. Palo Alto creates no short-term rental permit or registration, so there is no permit to carry over or to lose on sale. A buyer would be in the same position as the seller and would owe transient occupancy tax on stays of thirty consecutive days or less under Chapter 2.33.L1Palo Alto Municipal Code Chapter 2.33 Transient Occupancy Tax, Ordinance No. 5290, adopted November 4, 2014. No short-term rental chapter exists in Titles 1 to 22. · code text · checked 2026-09-13
Read the code text →
In the city's own words
2.33.010“any person who exercises occupancy or is entitled to occupancy by reason of concession, permit, right of access, license or other agreement for a period of thirty consecutive days or less” source
2.33.010“any structure, or any portion of any structure, in the City of Palo Alto which is occupied or intended or designed for occupancy by transients for dwelling, lodging or sleeping purposes, and includes any hotel, inn, tourist home or house, motel, studio hotel, bachelor hotel, lodging house, morning house, apartment, house, dormitory, public or private club, mobilehome or house trailer at a fixed location” source
Citation: Palo Alto Municipal Code Chapter 2.33 Transient Occupancy Tax, Ordinance No. 5290, adopted November 4, 2014. No short-term rental chapter exists in Titles 1 to 22.
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How this page was verified
Verified from the municipal code (level 1), checked on 2026-09-13 by the CanIBnB research desk. Research is AI assisted and human reviewed; the method, the level system, and the re-check schedule are on the How we verify page. If anything here is wrong, report it and it goes in the public corrections log.